In a move aimed at making roads safer for people, the government has decided to introduce stringent safety norms under which all new cars will have to undergo mandatory crash tests from October 2017.

"The government is finally enforcing stringent crash test norms to be mandatory for all new cars from October 2017, while for upgrades of existing models, the deadline will be from October 2018," secretary, ministry of heavy industries, Rajan Katoch said on Tuesday.

"New minimum safety norms, including frontal and side crash tests, will apply to all cars — entry level, small and cheaper models. As per the new order, cars would be tested for frontal crash norms at 56 kmph, while for the side crash test, it will be at 50 kmph," Katoch said, addressing a conference on 'road safety' here.

The conference was jointly organised by the International Road Federation (IRF) and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The Automotive Research Association of India has developed a comprehensive testing facility at Chakan, near Pune, to crash test the new vehicles, he said.

The new test facility offers a range of crash tests like full-frontal impact, side impact and offset-frontal impact etc. From now on, all these tests can be carried out under one roof for the first time in India, he added.